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Reflections on #LighttheWorld

So as many of you will be aware, the Church recently had their initiative for Christmas in 2016. I certainly enjoyed it. You can follow this link for the actual material: #LighttheWorld. Any search on Twitter and for #LighttheWorld and you will find a long list of positive messages and inspiring comments all around the Saviour and the Spirit of Christmas.

My family and I have particularly enjoyed the advent calendar list of activities that were offered. Every day there was a short video and a list of activities. Doing these has brought us closer to the Saviour over this Christmas season, which is why I hope to continue lighting the world through as many ways possible.

Today, I was visiting our YSA Ward in my capacity as a High Councillor and was asked to speak. Before my talk, a sister missionary gave a wonderful talk. She spoke about the light of Christ and how all of us this New Year can bring Christ to people by the very we act and they kind of person we are. She shared the experience of a Church building being built in a country with no proselyting allowed – the BYU building in Israel. They agreed to allow the building as long as the members did not proselyte in the area. A senior official in Israel, who knew and had dealings with the Church, made a statement. He said it was fine stopping the members from actively proselyting, but what were they going to do about the light that shone from the eyes of the members in the streets. He appreciated that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have something special about them.

We find references to this Light of Christ in the scriptures. We read in Moroni 7:18-19 “And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.” The Light of Christ is something we all have access to as children of God – members of the Church or not. It enables every one of God’s children to feel of His influence before baptism and confirmation. Otherwise, how could we be baptised with faith in the Saviour before receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost? In Preach My Gospel we are taught “It is important for a … missionary … to know that the Holy Ghost can work through the Light of Christ. A teacher of gospel truths is not planting something foreign or even new into an adult or a child. Rather, the missionary or teacher is making contact with the Spirit of Christ already there. The gospel will have a familiar ‘ring’ to them.”When we teach the Gospel, even when we act as our Saviour would, this light is recognised by others and they feel of the Light of Christ. This is why when we live our covenants and live a life as close to Christ as we can, people recognise and warm towards that.

As we enter 2017, I’ve started to recognise something very important. We should not just aim to #LighttheWorld around Christmas time, although it is a very good time of the year to do so. With our example, with the Light of Christ, we can quite literally in a spiritual sense light the world every day of the year. Isn’t this what we covenanted when we were baptised – in the baptismal covenant we promise to “…witness unto…O God, the Eternal Father, that [we] are willing to take upon them the name of [His] Son,” (Moroni 4:3)

What changes will you make to #LighttheWorld in 2017? How will you draw others closer to the Saviour by your example of light?